D-Link said today it will ship this Summer what it claims is the first clamshell Wi-Fi VoIP phone. Lest enterprising Reg Hardware readers come up with such a device already on the market, the networking gear company qualified its claim by noting its DPH-540 is the first Wi-Fi "flip-style" handset pre-loaded with TelTel VoIP software.

The handset looks like a classic clamshell. It weighs a mere 115g but comes equipped with a 900mAh battery - charged via USB cable - and an 802.11b/g-class radio. There's 12MB of SRAM for temporary storage and 16MB of Flash for retaining phone numbers and the like. It has a 40-voice polyphonic ringtone engine.

The DPH-540 uses the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for VoIP call connections, so it's not Skype-friendly. It'll do SMS texting too, provided your VoIP provider supports it. The phone ties itself straight into a broadband-connected WLAN, and supports WEP, WPA and WPA 2 wireless security systems.

TelTel is a free application that relays SIP calls across "a managed peer-to-peer Internet telephony backbone". Like Skype, the service offers free calls between users, but charges for calls made to landlines and mobiles.

D-Link said the handset will ship in the US "this Summer" - though in a separate statement on the fact the DPH-540 is based on chips from Broadcom, it says "initial shipments" are scheduled for Q2. Either way, D-Link expects the handset to cost less than $300 - presumably $299.99... ®